story: (CNN) -- According to the "Guinness Book of World Records," Sherlock Holmes is the most popular role in the movies. 
  
  So if Robert Downey Jr. hardly seems like the iconic Sherlock (he's too short and muscular, and strains to suggest the intellectual arrogance that comes so easily to the English), he can take his place alongside such oddball castings as Buster Keaton, Charlton Heston and George C. Scott. And he's ideally suited to director Guy Ritchie's purpose, which is not to dust off your grandfather's Conan Doyle, but to juice today's kids with a quirky 19th century super sleuth. 
  
  What's fun about these movies is that the equation works both ways. 
  
  Yes, this Holmes is more likely to get physical than his predecessors, he's even a bit of a boor, but he's still a more cerebral action hero than we find in most blockbusters, and the period trappings (a seamless blend of CGI and location work) help this franchise stand out from the crowd of comic book adaptations. 
  
  Ritchie and husband-and-wife screenwriters Kieran and Michele Mulroney ("Paper Man") map out a fast-moving -- if ridiculously digressive -- Victorian adventure that crisscrosses Europe by horseless carriage, train, boat, and, in Sherlock's case, pony. 
  
  Just down the road from 221 Baker Street they're digging a tunnel for what will become the London Underground. The Industrial Age is beginning to stretch its muscles, while a series of terrorist atrocities are gnawing at the fragile understanding between the great European powers. Holmes detects something other than social unrest behind the bombings: an evil master plan leading inexorably to his nemesis, Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris). 
questions: What is the most popular character in films?
questions: According to whom?
questions: Who is playing Holmes in Guy Ritchie's film?
questions: Is he typical for the part?
questions: Why not?
questions: Who are some other unusual actors cast as the character?
questions: Any others?
questions: Who else?
questions: Is this version of the character less physical than usual?
questions: Is he well-mannered?
questions: Is he dumber than most film heroes?
questions: Who wrote the film's screenplay?
questions: What other film are they known for?
questions: What continent is the film set on?
questions: Is it during the Edwardian era?
questions: How do the film characters travel?
questions: How else?
questions: Any other means?
questions: How does the main character travel?
questions: What is the name of the main character's enemy?
answers: Sherlock Holmes
answers: Sherlock Holmes is the most popular role in the movies. 
answers: Guinness book of world records
answers: According to the "Guinness Book of World Records," 
answers: Robert Downey Jr.
answers: Robert Downey Jr. hardly seems like the iconic Sherlock
answers: no
answers: Robert Downey Jr. hardly seems like the iconic Sherlock
answers: he's too short and muscular
answers: he's too short and muscular, and strains to suggest the intellectual arrogance that comes so easily to the English
answers: Buster Keaton
answers:  oddball castings as Buster Keaton, Charlton Heston and George C. Scott.
answers: Charlton Heston
answers: Charlton Heston
answers: George C. Scott
answers: George C. Scott
answers: no
answers: Yes, this Holmes is more likely to get physical than his predecessors
answers: no
answers: he's even a bit of a boor,
answers: no
answers: but he's still a more cerebral action hero
answers: Kieran and Michele Mulroney
answers: screenwriters Kieran and Michele Mulroney
answers: Paper Man
answers: screenwriters Kieran and Michele Mulroney ("Paper Man")
answers: Europe
answers:  Victorian adventure that crisscrosses Europe 
answers: no
answers: Victorian adventure that crisscrosses Europe
answers: horseless carriage
answers: crisscrosses Europe by horseless carriage
answers: train
answers: train
answers: boat
answers: boat
answers: pony
answers: Sherlock's case, pony. 
answers: Professor Moriarty
answers: his nemesis, Professor Moriarty 